Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Chapter 285 Insufficient food surplus
The situation was great, but He Fugui, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, made a comment but once again grabbed everyone's heart.

"However, the problem now is that our treasury has been almost depleted due to excessive expenditures due to the early preparations for the war and the fierce fighting during this period."

Lu Mou understands this very well.

It has only been a little over three years since the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Although the New Deal has improved the financial situation, it has been an improvement rather than a complete solution. The area under jurisdiction is small and the foundation is weak, so there is not much accumulation.

Previous wars were considered foreign wars, and every victory resulted in seizures, which could be described as profitable business.

But this time it was different. I was on passive defense, so my money and food could only go out but not come in. I spent it like running water. Therefore, it is inevitable that the small national treasury accumulation will bottom out.

How else to put it, if you want to live a good life, you cannot have a civil war, you must have a foreign war.

"There is not much money in the national treasury, and you, the regent, have strict requirements that the way we obtain food must be to use money to reasonably purchase it from the people. Therefore, the current situation is that although there is a lot of private food, we are unable to buy it. Therefore, , we can only store food to support the front line for another month. If there is no money to purchase food within one month, the front line will be shut down. Please be aware of this and make preparations in advance. "

Liu Zongzhou stood up and faced the two brothers: "In view of the wartime situation, my cabinet has discussed with others that during wartime, the method of purchasing grain with cash should be changed and the policy of expropriation in kind should be implemented."

Everyone in the cabinet nodded in agreement.

Lu Mou looked at his brother, who smiled and said: "Taxing in kind has its advantages, but there are more disadvantages. Before the regent's reform, the Ming Dynasty had always implemented a method of collecting taxes in kind and half in cash.

But here, officials and subordinates at all levels were given the opportunity to rob and exploit the people. We are determined not to give corrupt officials any chance to exploit the people. For this reason, Gu disagreed with the cabinet's request. "

What Zhu Cixiang said is indeed the key. When grain is collected in kind, corrupt officials and cruel officials will work hand in hand and come up with all kinds of tricks.

For example, the methods used by subordinate officials, such as collecting grain and kicking, are the most deceptive. "

The kicking fighting method is to ask the people to put the grain in the bucket at the top, and then the subordinates kick it down, so that the grain in the bucket becomes flat. When the people need to pour out more, the subordinate staff kicks it again, and the excess food is scattered on the ground. But you are not allowed to recycle these grains, they must be returned to the public. In this way, the people suffered a big loss first.

The government also required an additional 30% of the stored grain, which was called a waste for birds and mice. It shows how considerate the officials are, even taking care of the rats and birds.

Then there’s the transportation and turn-in. At this time, the government required the people that for every stone of grain turned in, you must pay 30% or more of the freight. This is called envoy fee. Even the carriages and horses were taken care of.

At the same time, you have to pay 30% of the loss, which is called drifting. This even takes into account the stray things on the road, so there is really no disadvantage at all.

For this reason, for every one stone of grain collected from the people by the state treasury, the people had to hand over at least two stones, which invisibly became a source of corruption for officials and subordinates, and became an unbearable burden for the people.

In transportation, the people's carriages and horses were forcibly recruited, and the methods used by officials and subordinates to exploit the people were even more varied. It will definitely force you to destroy your family and sell your sons and daughters. At this time, it is strange that the people don't rise up in rebellion.

Lu Mou nodded: "Such a bad policy has been changed, and we must not change it back just because of the war. Policies can only be improved and improved in a good way, so that they are more beneficial to the people, and cannot become harmful to the people again." To backslide. For this reason, the ruling council and I unanimously oppose the veto.”

Liu Zongzhou also knew the disadvantages of changing back like this, but wasn't it because the military rations on the front line were tight and the Ministry of Household Affairs had almost no money to collect food.

Since you vetoed it, I am happy to love the people, "But purchasing food and ensuring the supply of the frontline army is a top priority. The money problem still needs to be solved by the regent."

Since you can't just go back, then it's up to you to solve the money problem. Huang Daozhou also stood up and added weight to his disciples: "Not only the cost of purchasing grain, but also many other funding needs to be solved. In our cabinet budget, due to the large scale of the war this year, there will be a huge deficit in the treasury revenue. Please also ask the regent to plan this in advance.”

Faced with such pressure, Lu Mou smiled calmly, took out a thick account book from his sleeve, and opened it to the ministers: "The finances are tight, right? Let me tell you, our finances are not tight. , and a huge surplus.”

Everyone stared at the account book in Lu Mou's hand.

Lu Mouzhang read: "On March 20th, Yu Minzhong's Northern Navy went to Korea to attack the rebels and captured a total of -"

He read it in one breath, almost suffocating Lu Mou to death, and finally told the total value: "According to the evaluation by the royal appraiser Zheng Hongda, after deducting the dividends of the navy officers, the total value of the seizures is 15 million taels. Among them, brass alone is That’s enough for a thousand ships and a hundred ships.”

As soon as the news came out, the entire Jiying Palace was completely silent. It wasn't that everyone was not surprised or surprised, but it was because it was so pleasantly surprising and unexpected that it was so overwhelming that all the brains went blue screen.

One thousand materials, one hundred bows, then at least one hundred thousand materials.

Calculated as one ingredient equals three hundred kilograms. That's a full 30 million kilograms, which completely robbed North Korea.

North Korea is the largest copper-producing country in Asia. Later, during the Korean War, one of the slogans used by the United States to mobilize American soldiers was that whoever gets the gold (brass) everywhere in North Korea gets it.

So there is a scene where the backs of every American soldier are covered with clanking copper basins, copper bowls, and copper rice spoons.

"This time, Yu Minzhong knew that the court was short of copper, so he pried off all the copper hinges on the Joseon Gate. Among them, the copper belt of the King of Joseon was included."

Everyone covered their faces together and thought about how embarrassing it must be for the dignified king of North Korea to hold up his trousers to receive his ministers every day.

For the regent's complacency and for Yu Minzhong's plundering of the enemy's country, in the past, those ministers would have stood up and unanimously attacked this unkindness of the monarch and his ministers.

But the situation is different now, because everyone is used to the regent's unscrupulous style of doing anything for money. No money, violent collection, no money, going out to rob. According to the way he explained his reasons for robbing money to Zheng Hongkui and Yu Minzhong at the reception banquet in Guanhai Tower, now, everyone is used to the regent robbing money. And instead of being ashamed, I feel proud of it.

Look, in the whole world, who can still claim to be as noble as the regent when it comes to robbing money? Can't you compare?

And the most important thing is that as long as the regent grabs the meat, it will definitely leave a thick broth for the ministers.

For example, this time, Yu Minzhong implemented this point. Didn't he take out 20 boatloads of Korean souvenirs and distribute them to everyone to stop everyone's mouths? At this time, your mouth is full of oil, how can you express your criticism?

"As for the problem of military rations, Yu Minzhong's hundreds of ships of Korean rice can support it for a while. Then taking advantage of this opportunity, the Ministry of Household Affairs will cast copper materials into copper coins (not copper coins), cast gold and silver into silver coins, and begin to purchase the surplus grain from the people. ”

He Fugui happily accepted the task.

Now, his mint can work day and night again, and he has become a rich man again.

But just when everyone became relaxed after solving the financial problem, Luo Binggong, who continued to drive the Jinyiwei commander in Lu Mou's absence, stood up and told another piece of information.

(End of this chapter)